Central vacuum cleaning apparatus



Jan. 1965 A. A. CARPENTER ETAL CENTRAL VACUUM CLEANING APPARATUS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 29, 1962 the tank type.

United States Patent 3,167,414 CENTRAL VACUUM CLEANING APPARATU ArvellA. Carpenter, Tulsa, Olden, and Harold A. Wright, 216 W. 2nd St, Tuisa,Uhla; said Carpenter assignor to said Wright Filed Get. 29, 1962, Ser.No. 233,830 6 Claims. (Cl. 55296) The present invention relates ingeneral to cleaning apparatus, and more particularly to vacuum cleaningapparatus designed especially for central built-in cleaning systems.

Portable home vacuum cleaners have been in wide use for many years fordomestic and building cleaning purposes. These portable cleaners ascommercially produced are primarily of two basic types, the bag type andThe bag type conventionally includes a wheel supported cleaning head orbrush having a motordriven impeller or fan incorporated therein, ahandle pivoted at its lower end to the cleaning head, and a collectingbag removably supported at one end on the handle and coupled at theother end to the exhaust duct of the impeller. The tank type of cleanerconventionally employs an elongated horizontal or upright tank adaptedto rest on the floor, having the motor-driven impeller and collectingbag housed within the tank and inlet and exhaust openings. The cleaningheads or cleaning attachments are supported on one end of a tubularhandle and a flexible hose extends from the other end of the handle tothe inlet opening of the tank.

Both of these basic types of portable vacuum cleaners must be moved fromroom-to-room and the electrical supply cord providing current for themotor-driven impeller must be coupled and decoupled with the electricalconvenience outlet socket in the various rooms as the cleaner is movedabout the house or building. In both of these basic types of cleaners,the dust laden air drawn in through the cleaning head by the impeller isdischarged into the same room in which the cleaner is used, aftervarying amounts of dust and dirt are filtered out by the walls of thecollecting bag. Also, the effective suction in the cleaning headproduced by the impeller diminishes rapidly during the initial stages ofuse of the cleaner, dueto the collection of dust and dirt on the wallsof the collecting bag in the path of the air being drawn through thecleaner and the rapid reduction in the porosity of the walls of thecollecting bag produced by this accumulation of dust and dirt.

An object of the present invention is the provision of improved vacuumcleaning apparatus for use in association with a ducting systeminstalled in the walls or partitions of a multiroom building andextending to a plurality of rooms to be cleaned, wherein the vacuumcleaning apparatus may be located remote from the rooms while thecleaning attachments to be directly used in the cleaning operation maybe removably coupled to outlets of the ducting system in the rooms to beserviced.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a centralvacuum cleaning apparatus for use in built-in domestic cleaninginstallations, wherein novel means are provided for effectivelyseparating the dust and dirt collected by the cleaning head out of thesuction air stream and for displacement of the separated dust and dirtfrom the path of air travel to minimize reduction of the effectivesuction in the cleaning head by accumulation of such dust and dirt.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novelcentral vacuum cleaning unit which provides effective dust and dirtseparation from the air drawn in through the inlet regardless of theload on the cleaner or the amount of velocity of air moved through thecleaner.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing illustrating only preferredembodiments of the invention.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a central vacuum cleaning unit embodyingthe present invention, with portions broken away to reveal the interiorof the unit;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the separator subassemblyof the central vacuum cleaning unit shown in inverted position; and

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of the subassembly shown inFIGURE 2.

Referring to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designatecorresponding parts throughout the several figures, the central vacuumcleaner ,unit, indicated generally by the reference character 10,normally will be disposd in a shed externally of a house, in a garage orother location wherein the air discharged from the unit 16 may bedissipated to outside air. The unit is housed in a generally cylindricalcasing 11 having an upper section 12 and a lower section 13 which areseparable from each other and are removably secured together in verticalaxial alignment by conventional toggle locks or latches 14. The lowercasing section 13 has a bottom 15 and is in the form of an upwardlyopening receptacle designed to receive and collect dust and dirt drawninto the unit It).

The upper section 12 of the casing 11 has an inlet opening 16 and anexhaust opening 17 spaced from the inlet opening 16. The usual impellerunit 18 and motor 19 therefor are provided in the upper zone of theupper casing section 12 to provide the desired suction pressureconditions for effective vacuum cleaner operation. A horizontaltransverse partition 20 is located within the upper section 12 belowwhich extends a vacuum stack or uptake duct 21 forming an inlet plenumfor the impeller 18. This duct 21 is formed by an air separator unitgenerally designated by the reference character 22 supported cent-rallyon the horizontal partition 20 in depending relation. This air separatorunit,22, which is especially designed to provide constant separation ofdust and dlrt from the intake air at the same high level regardless ofhow much or how little air may be drawninto the unit and preventclogging or reduction of suction even under the most severe dirt anddust conditions, includes a light alloy casting 23 of generallyfrusto-conical configuration having a hollow bore 24 extendingtherethrough from top to bottom. A cross bar orweb member 25 extendsacross the casting 23 near the bottom thereof and forms the support foran electric motor 26 which is of such size that its sides are spacedfrom the bounding walls of the bore 24 to provide an annular air passagetherebetween. The cross bar member 25 is provided with an opening at itscenter to accommodate the depending shaft 27 of the motor 26. The crossbar member 25 may be formed integral with the casting 23 and the motor26 may be bolted to the member 25 as by bolts 28.

A perforated dirt and dust separator disc 30 is removably mountedagainst the annular planar bottom surface 39 of the casting 23 by meansof screws 31 extending into tapped holes in the casting 23, and includesa central opening 32 through which the motor shaft 27 freely passes. Awiper 33 formed in the preferred example of nylon and beveled at 34 on a45 angle is fitted on the shaft 27 to be driven by the shaft 27 and turnagainst the undersurface of the separator disc 30. The wiper 33 may becoupled by a variety of means to the shaft 27 to be driven thereby, butin the preferred example herein shown is intercoupled to the shaft by ahelical spring 35, the upper endmost turn of which is run through holes36 and 37 in the wiper 33 while its lower end is projected through hole38 in the shaft 27 and properly secured. a

It will be apparent that the dust and dirt laden air drawn in throughthe inlet opening 16 is directed in a circuitous path through thecentral vacuum cleaning unit, the air being first drawn downwardlyalongside the casting 23 of the air separator unit 22, and then turnedupwardly to pass through the perforated separator disk 30 and thenthrough the annular air passage between the electric motor 26 and thecasting 23 and the vacuum stack 21 to the impeller unit 18, the airbeing discharged through the exhaust opening 17. In order to insuredislodgment of any dust, dirt or other foreign matter which lodges onthe lower surface of the perforated separator disk 30, the electricmotor 26 is also energized continuously while the impeller motor isoperating, to continuously drive the wiper 33. The wiper 33, aspreviously mentioned, is driven by means of the helical spring 35coupled at its opposite ends to the motor shaft 27 and the wiper 33 tocause the wiper to scrape the lower surface of the separator disk 30free of foreign matter. The wiper 33 is not only driven by means of thespring 35, but the spring also serves to maintain the wiper 33 incontacting relation to the separator disk 30 with a constant pressure,the spring 35 being compressed during its assembly to achieve thedesired pressure between the wiper 33 and separator disk 30.

During rotation of the wiper 33, the sharp leading edges 33' of thewiper effectively shear the dirt and dust from the surface of theseparator disk 30 thus precluding clogging of the separator diskperforations or reduction in suction pressure regardless of theoperating conditions of the vacuum cleaning unit. Thus variations in theamount of air drawn through the intake opening 16 or variations in thedust load represented by the intake air will not significantly alter theeffectiveness of dust and dirt separation within the cleaning unit.

While but one preferred embodiment of the present invention hasbeen'particularly shown and described, it is apparent that variousmodifications may be made therein within the spirit and scope of theinvention, and it is desired, therefore, that only'such limitations beplaced on the invention as are imposed by the prior, art and set forthin the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Suction cleaner apparatus for central built-in cleaning systemscomprising a casing having a lower portion for collecting dirt andforeign matter from dirty air drawn into the casing, said casing havingan air, inlet opening and an air exhaust opening therein, motor drivenimpeller means within said casing for drawing air through said inletopening and discharging the same through said exhaust opening,vertically arranged duct means within said casing extending downwardlybelow said impeller means in vertical alignment therewith forming aninner air uptake chamber and having a lower inlet end spaced above thebottomof said lower casing portion, a horizontal, perforated dustseparating disc extending entirely over the inlet end of the duct means,an outer annular downtake duct for dirty air extending in concentricrelation with at least the lower portion of the inner duct means todirect air from said inlet opening downwardly about the inner ductmeansiand into said lower casing portion and thence upwardly throughsaid duct means and said impeller means, an elongated scraper. bladerotatably supported immediately below said perforated dust separatingdisc for engaging and sweeping the area of the lower surface of saiddisc to scrape dust and foreign l matter therefrom upon rotation of saidscraper blade, and an electric motor supported in concentric relationwith said duct means spaced from the sides thereof having a dependingshaft extending through said disc and coupled to said scraper blade torotate the latter about the center axis of said disc, said scraper bladehaving a central opening therein of greater diameter than said motorshaft, said motor shaft extending freely through said central openingand terminating at a position spaced below said scraper blade, and thecoupling between said motor shaft and said scraper blade including anelongated coil spring surrounding the portion of said motor shaftprojecting below said scraper blade coupled at its lower end with saidshaft to be rotated about its axis upon rotation of said shaft andcoupled at its upper end to said scraper blade to rotate the scraperblade and resiliently bias the same upwardly into scraping engagementwith said disc.

2. Suction cleaner apparatus for central built-in cleaning systemscomprising a casing having a lower portion for collecting dirt andforeign matter from dirty air drawn into the casing, said casing havingan air inlet opening and an air exhaust opening therein, motor drivenimpeller means within said casing for drawing air through said inletopening and discharging the same through said exhaust opening, avertically extending, generally cylin drical duct depending Within saidcasing from the level of said impeller, means and dividing the spacewithin said easing into an inner air uptake chamber extending from saidimpeller means to a lower level spaced from the bottom of said casingand an outer annular downtake chamber for directing air from said inletopening downwardly within said outer downtake chamber about theperiphery of said duct and into said lower casing portion and thenceupwardly through said uptake chamber and said impeller means, said ducthaving an inlet end at its lower end,'a transverse, perforated,horizontal planar disc forming a dust separating baflie extendingentirely across the inlet end of said duct, a rotary scraper bladesupported below and immediately adjacent said perforated disc havingbeveled blade portions radiating from thecenter thereof for scraping thelower surface of said perforated disc, and an electric motor supportedin concentric relation within said duct spaced uniformly from the sidesthereof to provide an annular air passage surrounding said electricmotor, said electric motor having a depending shaft extending throughsaid perforated disc and coupling means intercoupled with said scraperblade to rotate the latter about an axis extending through the center ofsaid disc, said scraper blade having a central opening therein ofgreater diameter than said motor shaft, said motor shaft extendingfreely through said central opening and terminating at a position spacedbelow said scraper blade, and the coupling between said motor shaft andsaid scraper blade includ ing an elongated coil spring surrounding theportion of said motor shaft projecting below said scraper blade coupledat its lower end with said shaft to be rotated about its axis uponrotation of said shaft and coupled at its upper end to said scraperblade to rotate the scraper blade and resiliently bias the same upwardlyinto scraping engagement with said disc.

3. Suction cleaner apparatus for central built-in cleaning systems inbuildings comprising a casing having a lower portion for collecting dirtand foreign matter from dirty air drawn into the casing, said casinghaving an air inlet opening and an air exhaust opening therein, atransverse stationary partition within said casing dis posed at anintermediate level along the height thereof, motor-driven impeller meanswithin said casing above said stationary'partition for drawing airthrough said inlet opening and discharging the same through said exhaustopening, vertically arranged duct means within said casing comprising anannular hollow casting of frusto-conical configuration supported on saidstationary partition 5 ing dividing the space within said casingimmediately below said stationary partition into an inner air uptakeduct extending downwardly from said impeller means to a lower levelspaced from the bottom of said casing and an outer annular downtakechamber for directing air from said air inlet opening downwardly withinsaid outer downtake chamber about the lower inlet end and thenceupwardly through said uptake duct and said impeller means, a horizontalperforated planar disc forming a duct separating baffle extendingentirely across the inlet end of said duct and peripherally securedagainst said annular planar bottom surface of said casting, an electricmotor of smaller diameter than the diameter of the hollow interior ofsaid casting supported in concentric relation therein immediately abovesaid planar disc and spaced uniformly from the sides of said casting toprovide an annular air passage therebetween, said electric motor havinga depending shaft aligned with the center axis of said disc andextending through the disc and terminating at a position spacedsubstantially below the level of said disc, a rotary scraper bladehaving a length substantially corresponding to the diameter of said discsupported below and immediately adjacent said perforated disc havingbeveled blade portions radiating from the center thereof having sharpscraper edges for scraping the lower surfaces of said perforated discupon rotation of said blade, said blade having a central opening oflarger diameter than said motor shaft through which said motor shaftfreely projects, an elongated coil spring surrounding the portion ofsaid motor shaft projecting below said scraper blade and extending incoaxial relation to said shaft, means coupling the lower end of saidcoil spring to the lower end of said motor shaft to be rotated aboutsaid axis upon rotation of the shaft, and means coupling the upper endof said coil spring to said scraper blade to resiliently bias thescraper blade upwardly into scraping engagement with said disc and torotate the scraper blade responsive to rotation of said motor shaft.

4. Apparatus for use in fluid systems having solids entrained in a fluidstream for removing the solids from the fluid stream comprising aseparator unit including an annular, body adapted to be disposed in avertical position and having a hollow bore extending therethrough fromtop to bottom, said body having a flat annular bottom surfacesurrounding the end of said bore to be disposed in a horizontal plane, aperforated solid separating disc having an outer periphery insubstantial registry with the outer periphery of said flat annularsurface and extending entirely over the bottom end of the bore of saidbody, means securing said disc to said annular surface adjacent theperiphery thereof, means for mounting an electric motor vertically abovesaid separator disc in alignment with a vertical axis through the centerof said disc, a rotatable shaft driven by said motor extendingdownwardly along said vertical axis through the center of said disc andprojecting therebelow, an elongated scraper blade journaled on saidshaft immediately below said disc having radially oppositely extendingblade portions for engaging and sweeping the area of the lower surfaceof said disc to scrapeany solid material lodged thereon from said discsurface upon rotation of said scraper blade, said scraper blade having acentral aperture therein sized to freely receive said shaft therethroughand spring means intercoupled between said scraper blade and said shaftfor resiliently urging said scraper blade against said separator discand resiliently transferring driving torque from said shaft to saidscraper blade to rotate the latter.

5. Apparatus for use in fluid systems having solids enti trained in afluid stream for removing solids from the fluid stream comprising aseparator unit including a rigid casting of general frusto-conicalconfiguration adapted to be disposed in a vertical position and having ahollow bore extending therethrough from top to bottom, said castinghaving a flat annular bottom surface surrounding the end of said bore tobe disposed in a horizontal plane, a perforated solid separating dischaving an outer periphery in substantial registry with the outerperiphery of said flat annular surface and extending entirely over thebottom end of the bore of said casting, means removably securing saiddisc to said annular surface adjacent the periphery thereof, means formounting an electric motor vertically above said separator disc in alignment with a vertical axis through the center of said disc, a rotatableshaft driven by said motor extending downwardly along said vertical axisthrough the center of said disc and projecting therebelow, an elongatedscraper blade journaled on saidshaft immediately below said disc havingradially oppositely extending blade portions provided with workingsurfaces inclined at acute angles to said disc for engaging and sweepingthe area of the lower surface of said disc to scrape any solid materiallodged thereon from said disc surface upon rotation of said scraperblade, said scraper blade having a central aperture therein sized tofreely receive said shaft therethrough, and spring means coupled at oneend to an eccentric part of said scraper blade and at the other end tosaid shaft at a point below said scraper blade for resiliently urgingsaid scraper blade upwardly against said separating disc and resilientlycoupling driving torque from said shaft to said scraper blade to rotatethe latter.

6. Apparatus for use in fluid systems having solids entrained in a fluidstream for removing the solids from the fluid stream comprising aseparator unit including a body having an annular body portion adaptedto be disposed in a vertical position and having a hollow bore extendingtherethrough from top to bottom, said body portion having an annularlower end surrounding the end of said bore to be disposed in ahorizontal plane, a perforated solid separating disc portion having anouter periphery in substantial registry with the outer periphery of saidannular lower end and extending entirely over the bottom end of the boreof said body portion, said disc portion being fixed to said annularlower end adjacent the periphery thereof, means for mounting an electricmotor vertically above said separator disc portion in alignment with avertical axis through the center of said disc portion, a rotatable shaftdriven by said motor extending downwardly along said vertical axisthrough the center of said disc portion. and projecting therebelow, anelongated scraper blade journaled on said shaft immediately below saiddisc portion having radially oppositely extending blade portions forengaging and sweeping the area of the lower surface of said disc portionto scrape any solid material lodged thereon from said lower surface uponrotation of said scraper blade, said scraper blade having a centralaperture therein sized to freely receive said shaft therethrough andspring means intercoupled between said scraper blade and said shaft forresiliently urging said scraper blade against said separator discportion and resiliently transferring driving torque from said shaft tosaid scraper blade to rotate the latter.

References flited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,134,294 Supanz Apr. 6, 1915 2,713,921 Turner July 26, 1955 2,942,690Carpenter -4-.. June 28, 1960

1. SUCTION CLEANER APPARATUS FOR CENTRAL BUILT-IN CLEANING SYSTEMSCOMPRISING A CASING HAVING A LOWER PORTION FOR COLLECTING DIRT ANDFOREIGN MATTER FROM DIRTY AIR DRAWN INTO THE CASING, SAID CASING HAIVNGAN AIR INLET OPENING AND AN AIR EXHAUST OPENING THEREIN, MOTOR DRIVENIMPELLER MEANS WITHIN SAID CASING FOR DRAWING AIR THROUGH SAID INLETOPENING AND DISCHARGING THE SAME THROUGH SAID EXHAUST OPENING,VERTICALLY ARRANGED DUCT MEANS WITHIN SAID CASING EXTENDING DOWNWARDLYBELOW SAID IMPELLER MEANS IN VERTICAL ALIGNMENT THEREWITH FORMING ANINNER AIR UPTAKE CHAMBER AND HAVING A LOWER INLET END SPACED ABOVE THEBOTTOM OF SAID LOWER CASING PORTION, A HORIZONTAL, PERFORATED DUSTSEPARATING DISC EXTENDING ENTIRELY OVER THE INLET END OF THE DUCT MEANS,AN OUTER ANNULAR DOWNTAKE DUCT FOR DIRTY AIR EXTENDING IN CONCENTRICRELATION WITH AT LEAST THE LOWER PORTION OF THE INNER DUCT MEANS TODIRECT AIR FROM SAID INLET OPENING DOWNWARDLY ABOUT THE INNER DUCT MEANSAND INTO SAID LOWER CASING PORTION AND THENCE UPWARDLY THROUGH SAID DUCTMEANS AND SAID IMPELLER MEANS, AN ELONGATED SCRAPER BLADE ROTATABLYSUPPORTED IMMEDIATELY BELOW SAID PERFORATED DUST SEPARATING DISC FORENGAGING AND SWEEPING THE AREA OF THE LOWER SURFACE OF SAID DISC TOSCRAPE DUST AND FOREIGN MATTER THEREFROM UPON ROTATION OF SAID SCRAPERBLADE, AND AN ELECTRIC MOTOR SUPPORTED IN CONCENTRIC RELATION WITH SAIDDUCT MEANS SPACED FROM THE SIDES THEREOF HAV-